Italian police arrest antiquities thieves and recover 3,500 pieces

Italian police arrested 16 people and found more than 3,500 artifacts when they dismantled what they described as a vicious network of antiquities thieves and international smugglers of ancient Greek and Roman antiquities.

Italy’s Carabinieri art crime squad said in a statement Wednesday that the detainees face charges that include criminal conspiracy, illegal drilling, theft, trafficking in stolen goods and the illegal export of goods.

The gendarmerie recovered hundreds of gold, silver and bronze coins from ancient Greek and Roman eras, as well as jewelry, dishes, cups, jars and miniatures dating from the 4th to the 3rd centuries BC.

The collected illegal excavations in the southern regions of Apulia, Campania and Basilicata, which are to be smuggled abroad, have “invaluable historical and artistic value and enormous commercial value,” police said.

Italy has long faced the problem of looting and smuggling its artistic and archeological heritage, but in recent years authorities have been more successful in tracking criminals and recovering stolen goods.